2) Opposites Attract: Look at industries that are hurting right now and then look at the opportunity. People aren’t buying as many new cars right now, but they are servicing the hell out of their cars. Is there an opportunity for you there? People aren’t going out to dinner as much, brands like Stouffer’s, Ronzonni etc are selling more because of it. Can you jump on that money? Damn right you can!

3) Opposites Attract Part Dos: Look at an industry that is hurting right now and understand that they want more sales, more profitability, more market share, happier customers, happier shareholders etc. Is there a glass half full outlook you could embrace?

4) Once you find industries that are recession resistant, go where the money is! Search out those industry groups on Linkedin, join their trade associations, go to their trade shows. Consider writing an article in an industry publication to position yourself as an expert.

5) Peruse the job boards like Monster and Careerbuilder. Make note of the businesses that are hiring. Watch for movement in companies you are targeting! This will tell you something. Might be expansion, might be massive turnover. Can you help? I bet you can!

6) Local Business Journal: Watch for expansions, moving to bigger facilities. Some business journals will tell you when companies lease additional space. Watch for newly appointed decision makers so you can take advantage of their newly appointed piss and vinegar!

7) National Business Publications: Watch for emerging businesses. I remember listening to an investor speak on how he made millions in the stock market. He simply watched for new, innovative ideas, looked at it from the consumer’s perspective and invested accordingly. Kind of sounds like he had a little Willie Sutton in his thinking, huh?

8) Your Backyard (your customer’s too) Watch for new businesses moving into the area. Watch for businesses adding on, increased amount of cars in the parking lot, doing a lot of remodeling. These all could be clues!

9) Companies that are trying to become more visible. Look for the companies that are advertising, that you keep hearing about, that seem to have a strong sales presence. They are obviously trying to increase business and see the value in spending money to make money.

10) VP’s of Sales: This one is a bit more specialized and may not work for what you offer, but think about it anyway. The mission of the VP of Sales is to increase the top line! Guess who’s getting a lot of heat right now? Gold star if you said the VP of Sales. The VP of Sales also has more influence than that damn purchasing agent and most of the organization especially if you can tie what you offer to increasing that top line. While other departments run on budgets, sales does too, but some VP’s of Sales have the influence to get funding when its crunch time!

I want you to really think about something. Businesses, regardless of what they do want: Increased Sales, More Profit, More Market Share, Happy Customers, Shareholders and Employees, They want to retain employees, customers and shareholders, they want to be more innovative, have quicker to market turn times, they want to streamline efficiencies, and in a bad economy they crave more of these things.

The wise bet is on the rep who understands that and goes where the real money is right now!

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Paul Castain is the Vice President of Sales Development for Consolidated Graphics (CGX) one of North America’s leading general commercial printing companies. Paul has over 25 years of sales and sales leadership experience. He has trained, mentored and coached over 3,000 sales and sales leadership professionals. An accomplished public speaker, Paul has delivered numerous key note addresses. He has authored numerous training manuals, articles, blog posts and is currently working on his first book for release in 2011. Feel free to email Paul ctstrainer@yahoo.com.
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